Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-02-02
KATIE PCTNAM.
The Little Actress interviewed BY Oul
Helena Correspondent.

This popular Western favorite, who will
conclude this Saturday night, one of the
most remarkably successful engagement
ever played here. Monday evening she
will open one weeks engaged ent at Butte.
At the close Of last, nights performance
your correspondent called upon the little
lady and was received in q most pleasant
manner by her. In person Miss Putnam ID
. little below tho medium height with a
trim and robust form. Her manners are
very pleasant and agreeable, her face light
ening up with animation and her express
i've grey eyes sparkling when ever she
speaks.
AlIudiug to tho recent snow blockade OF
which she was q victim, she expressed her
regret at disappointing her audience here
last Monday evening. "The elements were
had to bow to the inevitable.
Speaking of her profession she enthusiast
cally said, 1T is tho grandest in the world
to-day. When the call ome for a~'relief, act
ors are the first to respond, and they do it
with all their heart. They aid each other
by their benevolent association and thus
practically teach q beautiful lesson in hu.
man Kindness"
you love your pro~iession?" asked your
correspondent.
Yes indeed. 1 cannot imagine myself
doing anything else. nor could Lii I tried.
Ny mother, who now accompanies me and
plays parts ut her pleasure, played Juliet
thirty years ago, and at different times has
pal theatres in this country. l was born
in Chicago, nextdoor to McVicker's theatre.
80 the fates at my birth must have been
propitious. When only six months old l made
my debut il the drama of "Pi1arro,' as
Rolla's child. Mother, however, did not
wish to have me become m actress. For
years there had been such q prejudice
against the stage, players had always been
looked upon to such . degree that she did
not care to have me experience that fact.
So ] was sent to school at a very early age,
and later to the academy at Notre Dame,
Indiana. Everywhere my aspirations were
good souls, would not permit mo to take
part in any dramatic performances, al
though I yearned to do 90. However, during
vacation I happened to bs accompanying
my mother on the road, and ono OF the
ladies of the company falling i'll, my ssrv.
ices were called into requisition for the
time being. l went on from week to week,
until l was fairly launched, and here I am.
What plays do l like best? Why, those OF
q decor nature than those in my roper
toire. But the public will hsye me in moth
ing but comedy. There seems to be q de.
mand for lighter element that brings laugh
ter, and not thought. But down in tho
South they prefer me in emotional parts or
nethings, end l suppose that is because
sentiment il q characteristic Of Southern
Yes, I like Dickens, and conss-
quently "Old Curiosity Shop" which Ihavs
to dramatise, and judging from
it's reception, have fairly proved q success.
1t is hard to discriminate between any of
his works. Why, I almost learned to read
out OF Dickens works, reading n after
another to my grandmother when I was q
mere child. In playing I enter into the
l try to sink Katie Putnam and
forget her in the part I play. I try to be
in all my work, and sometimes
when I am natural and unaffected
in minor lines, people think that I
am not acting. I like the footlights |
low, so that l can. sec my audience,
it 10 there that I find my inspiration.
II I find q face Of a man, woman or child |
thet responds to my acting I draw my
from and play to that one, and
reach the rest. Sometimes I feel tired |
after q performance but it 10 traceable to
the audience. If it is cold and unapprecia-
AO w pIdy. |
do you read very much?"
YES. . great deal, but always with one
object in view-as to what use I can make
OF it. At present ] am at work on several |
French t~ranslations. In fact, l am always
out for new plays; not but I have
p'enty OF plays submitted to me. You have
no idea of the amount Of slush I am COM
PEELED to wade through every week; plays
81 all kinds from all sorts of authors who |
desire my opinion OF their works. Reading
these and novels and scribbling plays OF
ny OWE absorbs nearly all Of my leisure.
Do I like the West?' yes, very much, par
ticularly Helena and Butte; I have watched
their rapid growth with much qualification,
Ind always find it a pleasure to play to
their audiences. l will spend my next sum.
vacation in France, where will be the
quest Of an old school companion now re-
siding with her parents in Paris"
1t is evident t hat Miss Putnam's stage
yirlishness il not much affected, for she acts
in the Same manner of the stage,
With . species OF naivets and heartiness
that tends to make tho woman - popular
tho actress. |